Chiming in on wind

Ever since Texas oil magnate T. Boone Pickens popped up in ubiquitous TV ads touting a plan to wean Americans off foreign oil by using wind energy and natural gas, people of all stripes have been curious. How would this plan work? What would it cost? Who would pay? And what does Pickens — who comes across as a folksy old gent but is known for rough and tumble business practices — stand to gain?

Associated Press

Pickens touting his plan

Several Chron staffers got the answers to some of those questions when Pickens swung by the paper on his publicity tour.

First of all, yes, he does indeed use a lot of charming colloquialisms. Regarding the slower economy and less-clogged roadways, he mentioned that on the trip from San Jose to San Francisco, he and his entourage “came in slick.” He also said former presidential contender Rudy Giuliani’s campaign “flopped quicker than a one-egg custard” (that was my personal favorite).

The main points of his plan go like this: The U.S. imports about 70 percent of its oil to the tune of $700 billion each year. While Americans have curbed their consumption a bit, that’s barely a dent in that multi-billion dollar tab.

So, Pickens would like to see the U.S. develop all kinds of energy resources in-house — wind, solar, biofuels — as well as nuclear power plants, more drilling for oil and extraction of additional natural gas pockets.

“I’m for everything American, because I don’t like that $700 billion,” he said.

The proposal — which involves building a vast wind farm in West Texas — would help reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil, boost renewable energy development improve the nation’s security, create jobs and boost rural America, Pickens said. The plan also involves switching all government cars to run on natural gas.

Those all sound quite reasonable, no? Well, as with all things involving money and politics, there seem to be some hobgoblins hiding in the details.

For one, Pickens would be in charge of a lot of infrastructure. In fact, he’s asked Congress to give him control over any transmission lines he would built for wind energy. Right now, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission controls all electric transmission lines.

In addition, it seems Californians could be big funders of the plan. An opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times pointed out that Pickens owns Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a natural gas fueling station company behind Proposition 10 on California’s November ballot. The ballot measure calls for the sale of $5 billion in general bond funds to provide alternative energy rebates and incentives; $2.5 billion would go toward rebates for natural gas vehicles. Hmmm.

Pickens hasn’t aligned himself with either presidential candidate; he criticized both for failing to have a complete understanding of the U.S. energy problem (By the way, he said he and Al Gore are different pages. He said U.S. energy independence comes first. Dealing with climate change is on “page two”).

But with more and more politicians jumping on the alternative energy bandwagon and American consumers choking on the high cost of gas, it will be interesting to see which way the wind will blow over Pickens’s plan.